AYAO Progress Review Group: YAA Priorities

The National Cancer Institute (NCI), in collaboration with the LAF and the LIVESTRONG Young Adult Alliance, has established the Adolescent and Young Adult Oncology (AYAO) Progress Review Group (PRG).

The first public-private partnership of its kind, the PRG is composed of prominent members of the scientific, medical and advocacy communities. Its purpose is to develop a national agenda for adolescent/young adult oncology.

Charge of the AYAO PRG

Assess the state of research in adolescent and young adult oncology, including:

Comprehensively defining and describing issues facing adolescents and young adults with cancer

Identifying areas of strength, gaps and opportunities

Define and prioritize investment areas; compare and contrast these priorities with the NCI research portfolio.

Prepare a written report that describes findings and recommendations for meeting unmet opportunities and needs within the construct of discovery, development and delivery.

Discuss a plan of action with NCI leaders and key stakeholders and funders to ensure that the priority areas are well addressed.

Leadership Meeting: On September 19, 2005 the NCI director, representatives from the NCI and LAF, PRG co-chairs and executive director convened to identify prominent members of the scientific, medical and advocacy communities to serve on the AYAO Progress Review Group.

Planning Meeting: On December 6-7, 2005, a planning meeting for the PRG membership and NCI and LAF staff was held to develop the agenda for the PRG roundtable meeting, identify breakout group co-chairs and nominate a broad range of approximately 100 roundtable participants with diverse expertise, including scientists, clinicians and advocates.

Roundtable Meeting: The roundtable meeting took place April 24-26, 2006, in Denver, Colorado, and provided a forum to discuss the current state of knowledge, identify gaps in efforts and develop and prioritize research recommendations that will advance the field.

Participants divided into breakout sessions to engage in detailed discussions of their breakout topics and develop a set of recommendations.

Once the breakout groups finished their deliberations, the breakout co-chairs presented the recommendations of their groups to all Roundtable participants.

At the end of the meeting, the PRG prioritized the breakout recommendations and selected the final list of recommendations to highlight in the PRG report.

PRG Reports

The recommendation phase of the PRG process culminated with the publication of a PRG recommendation report that reflects the opinions of the approximately 100 individuals who participated in the PRG process and serves to:

Provide a framework to galvanize the cancer research community around the unique research issues in adolescent and young adult oncology

Create a foundation to build coalitions and partnerships

Identify opportunities for collaboration and coordination in areas of mutual interest and funding among key stakeholders

Provide recommendations that can serve as a basis for future programs and initiatives

Increase awareness of and community involvement in AYAO issues

The PRG report was presented to and accepted by the Advisory Committee to the Director, NCI, on August 9, 2006.

The implementation phase of the PRG process kicked off at an implementation meeting with oncology community leaders in November 2006. A PRG implementation report, which outlines strategies developed at the meeting, provides a plan for reducing the unequal burden of cancer experienced by young adults.